강정인의 덕치/법치 논의와 동서양 통섭적 인식

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to introduce and evaluate Kang Jeong In’s theory of governance based on both virtue and law and constitutionalism, and then go further to a supplementary discussion on the theory. In 2002, he raised the discussion of virtue based rule and law based rule under the circumstance of the domestic and overseas academic fields that were prevailed by the cognition: ‘Confucianism is only for autocracy or at utmost for virtue based rule’ while the Western society has been under ‘law based rule against autocracy.’ He criticized such cognition, saying that it was based on the western oriented bias, emphasizing the familiarity of the law based rule of the modern western society and further arguing that the success of modern law based rule would require combination of Confucian virtue based rule and modern style law based rule. In order to rethink of the understanding of the concept of ‘the virtue based rule and law based rule of Confucian School, I supplementary suggest that it is not recommendable to understand the concept of ’the virtue based rule of Confucianism’ as any of such concepts as ‘general and humanistic level of virtue or ethic’ and etc. Instead, I raise the point, ‘The Confucian concept of virtue based rule is the law based rule of DeokJuHyeongBo (德主刑輔: Rule mainly with virtue and subsidiarily with punishment). I also address, ‘King Sejong’s virtue based rule of DeokJuHyeongBo was the law based rule’ and comment the point that such King Sejong’s virtue based rule is also a synonym of ‘BeopJuHyeongBo (法主刑輔: Rule mainly with law and subsidiarily with punishment).